Walkin' West is sponsored by Chicken Ranch Casino in historic Jamestown, California, home to the great outdoors of the mother lode and it's scenic landscape.

Chicken Ranch Casino, proudly owned by Chicken Ranch Rancheria of Me-Wuk Indians of California.

Walkin' West is brought to you in part by visit El Dorado, Visit Tuolumne and visit Madera County Visitors Bureaus.

Discover the history of the gold rush, pristine mountain lakes, and the waterfalls of Yosemite all here in the heart of California's gold country.

I'm Steve Weldon and boy do I love adventure!

Whether it's a good long hike, climbing a big old rock or checking out that secret swimming hole, I'm raring to go!

Join me as we hike from the crest of the Rockies to the beautiful Pacific Coast right here on Walkin' West.

MUSIC We're about to set out on an epic overnight backpacking adventure in the High Sierra with four fun-loving llamas and they're carrying the load.

This ought to be one memorable hike, but first I need to see my friend Lisa at the Tuolumne County Visitors Center, and find out where in the heck I'm going.

Hi Lisa, how are you?

Hey, Steve.

I'm good.

How are you doing?

Oh, I am ducky.

I'm doing great because I, you know, living here in Tuolumne County and I love to hike and this is my backyard and I want to go on an overnight hike.

Okay.

And it's a backpacking trip.Okay And I want to go somewhere that I haven't been before and I've been to Emigrant, which is incredible, but I haven't hiked out of Kennedy Meadows.I hear it is absolutely gorgeous.

Can you give me a hike?

I can certainly give you a hike.

I think the Relief reservoir hike is going to be amazing for you.

It's gorgeous.

You're gonna see lots of wildflowers, most likely there's water flowing right now.

It's just beautiful up there.

Well, the weather's perfect right now, and I can't wait to get on the trail today.

Now, how long is this hike?

It's about five miles in and five miles back out.

Okay.

And a little bit of elevation gain, I guess.

A bit of elevation.

I think you start around or, it ends around 7,000 feet.

About 7,000.

I think I'll make it.

Well, let me ask you something.

Are you gonna have any animals with you?

Good question.

Yes, I am.

We're gonna hike with these llamas... Llamas?

from the Potato Ranch.

You bet.

You don't hear that every day.

Well, we're gonna have a luxury hike.

It's gonna be a lot of fun.

We''re gonna have four llamas.

Are they allowed at Relief?

They are, yes.

Okay, good, good, good.

Yeah.

Well, can you show me where, like on a map or something?

Sure.

We have a map right over here.

Okay.

And I'll be happy to show you.

Okay, great.

music All right, Steve, so we're here in Sonora and you're just gonna jump on Highway 1 0 8.

You're gonna head up 1 0 8 and you're gonna go all the way up to Kennedy Meadows right here.

Okay.

Baker Campground is there.

And that's where you'll see the trailhead.

Sounds great.

I can't wait to go.

Steve, I'm gonna send you a packing with a packet here.

Hold it.

You're gonna send me packing or backpacking?

Backpacking!

Laughter I like that little Freudian slip.

I'm gonna send you packing.

Okay.

Now what have you got for me?

So this shows a all about Relief reservoir.

What to expect.

You're gonna need a wilderness permit as well.

Okay.

I've got one.

Great.

Perfect.

I also wanna send you off with one of our big messages that we like to share with people.

And that is that Tuolumne County is too cool to trash.

I love it!

Wow.

This is going on my car!

Oh, that's wonderful.

And this is our mission to leave it better and cleaner than we found it.

I mean, we want people to come to our county, don't we?

Yes, we do.

And we want to be clean when they leave.

And to be responsible.

Yes.

Thank you so much.

Thank you Steve.

I appreciate it so much.

Have a great time.

Thank you.

So nice to see you.

You too.

Bye now.

Bye.

MUSIC I'm getting real excited about this hike in the Emigrant wilderness.

This area has it all, from rivers to falls and the beautiful mountain scenery.

And with my buddy Greg's llamas carrying the load.

This'll be one pampered hike.

I can't wait to get acquainted with these rascals.

This is gonna be a blast.

Look at 'em.

They look great.

Here you go.

You like me, don't you?

Laughter Yeah.

Boy, it's a great day and I'm raring to go on this hike.

Hi, I'm Steve Weldon and welcome to Walkin' West and today I'm in my backyard.

That's right.

I live close by to here and I love it.

This is the Stanislaus National Forest, otherwise known as the Emigrant Wilderness.

Now I'm hiking today with not only my expert guide Greg Harford, but I'm hiking with his llamas.

How you doing, Greg?

I'm doing wonderful today, Steve.

Great.

Well, I'll tell you what, I'm excited to go with these guys.

I've always gone on hikes either by myself with other people or whatever, but I've never taken, I guess you would call 'em a pack animal.

And apparently a very stout pack animal, Greg.

Correct.

They're very hardy on the trail.

They're very sure-footed.

They carry 65 to 75 pounds.

They can eat most everything that's up here.

So generally we don't need to bring any food for them on long trips.

They were born and raised to be up in the high country, that area.

So they love to hike.

This is not work for them.

What are the names of your llamas here?

This is LT.

He's my senior llama.

Hi.

Behind him is Forrester.

Behind him is Ritter, and on the very end is Hitchcock.

Are you ready to hike?

I'm ready.

Let's get it my friend.

Come on boys!

This is great.

The Emigrant wilderness a 5.2.

MUSIC We're hiking along the roaring Stanislaus River, which comes from the High Sierra glaciated snow melt.

Now, this part of the North Central Sierras is a backpacker and fisherman's Paradise.

And the best part is that this wilderness, unlike others, is not heavily traveled.

What a great way to spend a summer day.

Well, we've gone about a mile on the trail here in the Emigrant and with these beautiful llamas and Greg Harford.

And I couldn't help but notice, I mean, the Stanislaus River here is really getting after it today.

Oh, you should see it in a heavy snow year.

This is a trickle compared to what it is normally.

Usually there'll be a mist coming over the trail.

Today, the bridge is nice and dry.

I noticed how sure-footed they are.

We went over a lot of rocks a few minutes ago.

Yes.

They have a very leathery pad.

And they're two-toed.

So those toes will give great perches on the granite rock up here.

Well, let's cross that bridge now.

All these guys are good at that, right?

Oh yes.

Okay.

I though I do have two, two rookies.

They've never been over a bridge before.

So once we get going, who knows what's gonna happen.

Really?

Yes.

Boy, Greg, this is heaven on earth!

You know it Steve!

I bet those llamas are happy.

Whoa.

Boy, these llamas have a great personality.

They make me smile.

MUSIC Well, we're here on this, trail here in the Stanislaus National Forest here in the Emigrant, and we're on our way to Relief Lake.

And you're on a little bit of a longer hike.

Hi Ross.

How you doing today?

I'm doing pretty good.

Good.

Well, I bet you're doing good.

You have that smile on your face like almost every hiker.

I see.

That's right.

Why do you hike Ross?

Oh, it's just a wonderful time to be out here, calms me down and just love it to be in the wilderness.

This is a great release, isn't it?

Yeah, it's great.

You bet.

Kind of makes you forget all your troubles.

I put my cell phone in my car.

I never take it with me hiking.

I say the heck with all that noise, you know, put down the computer, get outta the office, get out of the house.

Get away from talking politics with people and just enjoy all this stuff!

I love it out here for that reason.

How far are you going today?

I think it's about 17 miles.

I'm trying to make Emigrant Lake.

Okay, now that's 17 miles.

You're gonna do that in one day?

I hope to.

Wow!

We'll see how much snow cover there is.

I can be out here a couple nights.

We'll see.

Well enjoy your hike and hike safe.

All right.

Thank you sir.

And thanks for being on Walkin' West, my friend.

MUSIC Not only is this steep and rocky, but we're getting a little close to that ledge over there, my friend.

Well, you don't have to worry about these llamas, they'll never walk over a ledge.

Good.

They'll let you walk over a ledge though.

LAUGHTER Well, in that case I'm gonna hang on to the llama.

Hand me the rope here.

Okay, now there's, you said there's some history.

Yes.

Yes.

Steve, there's some history right here and up here, just a little bit farther.

This is where they filmed “For Whom the Bell Tolls.

” Really?

Yes.

music What did they do to get up here?

Didn't they have tanks in that movie?

They had tanks, these big tanks that somehow got up here.

How they got 'em up here?

I have no idea.

But wait till you see the rest of the stuff that they got up here.

Wow!

Let's get it.

MUSIC It sure is nice to be able to stand here for a moment and take in all this beauty.From volcanic ridges to fast-moving streams.

And I love swimming in the rivers, but this one might just gobble me up.

I think I'll chicken out on this one and keep on hiking with Greg and my four-legged buddies.

Looking good boys.

Keep up the good work.

MUSIC Im in hog heaven!

Ye Haw!

MUSIC We're about halfway through the hike and we're just got wrapped up with lunch and what a good lunch it was.

I guess.

I love peanut butter.

Me too.

It's so quiet here.

I mean, I can't hear anything except just an occasional kind of a llama moo or a whimper.

I think maybe they're getting a little restless and ready to go here in a minute.

They're fun to be around.

They have a lot of peculiar traits and they keep you laughing.

Oh boy.

Well, we had a good morning here and like I said, we're just about to get up and leave and I fed the llamas a real good little snack a few minutes ago.

Okay.

Hitchcock, you ready?

Okay.

Here, boy.

Yeah.

Little banana peel.

You like it?

I think we're warming up.

I think we're gonna be real good buddies at the end of this hike.

By the end of this hike they'll be putting their nose in your pocket.

Trying to get those carrots.

Laughter I can't wait.

I love them.

Okay.

MUSIC We're taking a little break here on the Relief Lake hike and I love it when I meet new folks on the trail and I met a fine young lady by the name of Dina.

And you come from where, Dina?

I'm from Calaveras County.

Okay.

Nearby?

Yep, nearby.

And I'm out here today scoping out trails.

Scoping out trails.

Yeah.

What, what are you part of a group or anything like that?

I am, I started a hiking group.

Okay.

About a year ago.

This is our second year.

Okay.

It's called Hiking to Heal.

And I'm out here trying to find our next adventure.

Wow!

That sounds great.

Well, tell me what Hiking to Heal is all about.

Hiking to Heal started from my breast cancer journey.

I am three years survivor of breast cancer.

Whoa!

So yes.

Congratulations.

Thank You.

Oh that's wonderful.

Thank you.

And yeah, so I started it out of kind of a dark spot in my life and I thought let's bring women together and we're all healing from something.

Okay.

And it was, nature's always been a very powerful healing.

The beauty of nature, getting out here, enjoying our beautiful surroundings has been healing and grounding.

And I wanted to bring that to other women.

Okay.

That's a great message.

I mean, and you're still cancer free?

I am.

Yeah, buddy!

That's terrific!

Well, so now how can people get to your page or whatever to join Hiking to Heal?

So we're on Facebook.

Alright.

I have a Facebook page called Hiking to Heal.

We're also on Instagram.

Alright.

And, and it's open to all women of all skill levels.

We do easy hikes, we do a little harder hikes.

I try to make it even so everybody can join us and just look for us and send me a request and join in the healing.

Nothing better for the heart and the soul than a great hike.

I agree.

And being outdoors.

Yes.

And once again, I love your zest for life and your message.

Thank you.

Thank you so much.

Thank you.

Thank you for having me.

Oh, you're welcome.

Thanks for being on Walkin' West.

Okay.

MUSIC Old Greg sure takes good care of his boys.

You can tell by the way they point those ears.

They're eager and they're raring to go.

MUSIC Every time I look at these mountains, I pinch myself and I say, I live here?

This is my backyard?

Hmm.

I'm a lucky man.

MUSIC The Emigrant wilderness varies in elevation from near 5,000 feet at Cherry Lake to around 11,500 feet at Leavitt Peak.

Now the higher elevations average over 25 feet of snow a year.

Heck, maybe that's why our Tuolumne County water tastes so darn good.

I call it “liquid gold.

” MUSIC Boy, this is a pretty good workout for the old calves.

Sure is.

Steve.

Whoa!

Oh my God, this is beautiful!

The lake, the snow, the mountains.

Oh my gosh.

Now when was the dam built?

1906 to 1912.

Okay.

And it must have taken some pretty studly folks to bring all the material in here to build that dam.

Yes, it was.

It was quite an engineering feat.

They had two steam donkeys that sled it up.

All the material, all the steel, all the concrete.

It was quite a dangerous job.

We've got a lot of natural lakes here, but we've also got some dams and some man-made lakes.

And this is one of 'em.

And I have to say this is one of the most beautiful sites I have ever seen.

I'm glad you enjoy it because you're gonna be jumping in that lake up there at the end in that nice cold snow melt and we'll see how much you like that.

MUSIC The neat thing about hiking the Emigrant is that you aren't far from civilization, but it sure as heck seems like it.

You can hike for hours without encountering another soul.

It's just you and the sounds and the sights of nature at its best.

All this peace, quiet, and beauty right here in this incredible wilderness, hard to believe you can still get away from it all in a state with so many folks, but you can, right here in the High Sierra of California.

Boy, I'm a happy camper walkin west and we pitched camp for the night.

We're gonna be settling down, we're gonna have a good old stew dinner and we're gonna enjoy ourselves.

And I think about the history of this wilderness, the Emigrant, and this is where we are today.

and it's rich in Native American history.

As a matter of fact, the Sierra and Me-Wuk Indians were the first to inhabit this mountain region.

And they lived anywhere between about 1500 and 4,000 feet in elevation.

And much of their diets consisted of acorns, the nuts from the sugar pine and Manzanita berries.

It also consisted of course of game that they hunted.

They hunted mule deer and they also snared smaller game and they fished in the lakes and the rivers nearby.

And what they did with this food, of course they survived on it, but they also traded food and acorns to the Paiutes.

did this for the all important obsidian.

Now, out of this obsidian, they made knives, they made spearheads.

And most important, they made arrowheads.

Yes they did.

And they would come up here mainly in the summer months when it got real hot down low.

And, and then they would go down in the fall, the spring and the winter down back to the lower elevations between net 1500 and 4,000 feet.

And they would migrate down to what we now call Tuolumne and Sonora and Jamestown, and a lot of these Me-Wuks are still calling this area their home today.

And I live in Tuolumne County and you know what?

I sure love my Me-Wuk buddies.

My buddy Greg Harford here, has My buddy Greg Harford here, has done an amazing job as a guide today.

And he does great with these llamas.

Of course, he's got the Potato Ranch Farm.

And I gotta tell you, we've had a blast today and they have carried the load.

So it's time for me to say thank you.

So I'm gonna go to LT here first.

We're gonna give him a carrot.

See how he likes that?

Hi LT.

There you go, buddy.

Yeah, that a boy.

Yeah.

You worked hard.

He's the senior.

He's about 15, LT is.

And you're a good boy, aren't you?

Yeah, you are.

You want another one?

You worked hard.

Yeah, you want another one.

You know these are also called kissing lamas.

Maybe we'll do that later.

Well, here we are at our beautiful campsite at Relief Lake.

Now if you're gonna be walking west and you're gonna be camping west, then dog gone it, you better be swimming west.

Now I've got a feeling this may be a little nippy at 7,000 feet, but hey, I hadn't tried it yet.

Laughter Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

Here we go.

All right.

On the count of 3.

1, 2....3!

Splash - Music Whoa!

Woo, man!

So much for swimming west!

MUSIC Woo!

Oh man.

Ahh.

That's a little nippy, but no hill for a climber!

crickets birds Well, I slept like a log last night.

We had a great time.

We had a good stew dinner and kind of went to bed a little bit early, got a little nippy this morning, had to put on another layer.

And the sound of the creek coming into Relief Lake, it was just, it was almost magical.

It really was.

And what a beautiful lake this is.

And the funny thing is, there's so many great places to be here.

There's this lake, there's Huckleberry Lake, there's Jim Lake, there's Chewing Gum Lake, there's Deer Lake, you name it.

They're all out here in the Emigrant.

And I suggest you grab your family and you get after it because there's all different levels to hike.

There's a strenuous levels, there's a moderate, there's the easy.

So there's something for everybody.

Okay.

Getting ready to go here.

We've gotta weigh these bags so that each one weighs no more than 30 pounds so that the llamas are balanced.

We want these guys happy.

Okay, good.

I don't know how.

Okay, now we synch 'em up.

Okay.

These are great guys.

Yes you are.

We're gonna have a good hike back, aren't we guys?

Okay, here we go.

I want to do the right thing here, wanna be easy on these guys.

Don't worry the llama will tell us if its wrong I bet.

Laughter Good.

The llama's gonna tell us and then I'm gonna pay 'em off with carrot.

Of course.

Okay, good.

Good job.

Ain't nothing better than a full set of teeth.

Go.

I got one more job for you.

I feel that you are highly qualified for it.

Highly qualified, right?

I'm the only guy here to do it.

I need you to go kick the poop mounds, scatter 'em with your foot.

Kick the poop mound and scatter it with my foot.

We're gonna kick some poop!

Laughter Hey, all part of the job!

Laughter Well, I've never kicked poop before.

Hey, can I use a shovel or is that cheating?

That's cheating.

Laughter Okay, here goes Soccer style.

Laughter Ooh, I don't know about that one.

That one is a little moist.

Laughter Okay, I'll give it a shot.

So much for new tennis shoes.

Laughter The poop king!

Time to get you guys ready for the trail.

You ready, LT?

Atta Boy!

Yeah.

You ready?

Yeah.

All right.

You ready Hitchcock?

There you go.

Boy.

Okay.

I don't know if this one wants one, but we'll try.

Okay.

That means Hitchcock and LT get another one.

We are ready to roll!

MUSIC Boy, this has been a great trip, Greg.

Yes it has.

You ready to go?

Let's go!

MUSIC Well, we're on our way home.

And I've gotta say, hiking with these llamas has been a blast.

MUSIC And look at how sure-footed they are.

MUSIC And the mountain lakes and their beauty.

Gosh, it'll take your breath away.

Look at that shimmering water with the pine trees and the granite outcroppings.

Remember folks, you're not gonna get this kind of payoff at a roadside pullout.

It's a panorama like this that really makes you want to hike.

We're about three miles into our hike back down the hill to Kennedy Meadows.

And we had to stop and mention this because it's an important part of the history up here to the Relief Lake Dam.

As a matter of fact, without this, that dam wouldn't exist today.

What this is, is a steam donkey.

And basically what that is, is a steam powered winch.

And they pulled all that heavy equipment and all the supplies that were necessary up to this point.

Well then another steam donkey, which is just up the hill about a mile, pulled that heavy equipment, pulled those supplies all the way up to that point, and good old manpower.

Got it the rest of the way.

MUSIC Boy, I'm proud of our hikers.

Two days of hiking and not a single piece of trash on the trail.

You can't beat that!

MUSIC Well, we're coming up to the Grouse Creek water crossing and Greg advised me a little while back that two of these llamas had not done a water crossing before.

Well, I got faith in you boys.

So far so good.

Y'all are doing great.

And look at that waterfall.

Hard to believe it's been a real dry year.

MUSIC You know, I think I'm really getting used to being spoiled to death with my llama buddies carrying the load.

And the best part of it all is that you can tell that these guys really enjoy their work.

These are fun, loving llamas.

This has been a real treat.

And speaking of treats, that's coming up.

We're here at the end of the trail here at Kennedy Meadows.

And what a wonderful two day hike with Greg here & the kissing llamas.

I I heard they're kissing llamas, I'm gonna find out here in a minute.

And Renee, she carried part of the load and I Thank you, Renee.

You did a great job, will You were wonderful.

And these llamas, I gotta tell you, Greg, not only were they so much fun, but the way you treat these, you treat these llamas wonderfully and it shows.

Well I just treat 'em the way I'd want to be treated if the the roles were reversed.

Well, you treat 'em awfully nice and they are so much fun to be around.

I'm gonna miss these guys.

Well, I think we're gonna have to give you the, the title of Uncle Steve, the Kiss in the llamas.

Uncle Steve.

Well, I guess I'm gonna have to try to give this one a kiss.

Let's see if it'll work.

Come here boy.

Come here.

Okay, we'll try this.

Come here.

Come here LT Laughter Hey, thank you Mark Brant Thank you everybody that had so much to do with this show.

We'll see you next time on Walkin' West.

Give me another kiss.

Laughter Singing: Well, I went hiking in the mountains today with a bunch of kissing llmaas.

They carried everything but the kitchen sink even my wool pajamas.

We walked on up to Relief Lake where we went and spent the night.

After going whole hog I slept like a log under the old moonlight.

Now it's time to say so long and thanks for being my guest and I hope you'll join us next time when we keep on Walkin' West.

Yeah, you'll never get the blues when you put on your shoes and join us walking West.

That's all.

Pop!

Laughter Come here, come on.

I feel like a gilted bride.

Laughter Now we're talking!

Laughter MUSIC MUSIC Walkin' West is sponsored by Chicken Ranch Casino in historic Jamestown, California, home to the great outdoors of the mother lode and its scenic landscape.

Chicken Ranch Casino, proudly owned by Chicken Ranch Rancheria of Me-Wuk Indians of California.

Walkin' West is brought to you in part by visit El Dorado, Visit Tuolumne and visit Madera County Visitors Bureaus.

Discover the history of the gold rush, pristine mountain lakes, and the waterfalls of Yosemite all here in the heart of California's gold country.